Wealth distribution in presence of debts. A Fokker--Planck description

We consider here a Fokker--Planck equation with variable coefficient of diffusion which appears in the modeling of the wealth distribution in a multi-agent society. At difference with previous studies, to describe a society in which agents can have debts, we allow the wealth variable to be negative. It is shown that, even starting with debts, if the initial mean wealth is assumed positive, the solution of the Fokker--Planck equation is such that debts are absorbed in time, and a unique equilibrium density located in the positive part of the real axis will be reached

Remember the medium! : film, medium specificity, and response-dependence

Medium specificity is a theory, or rather a cluster of arguments, in aesthetics that rests on the idea that media are the physical material that makes up artworks, and that this material contains specific and unique features capable of 1) differentiating media from one another, and 2) determining the aesthetic potential and goals of each medium. As such, medium specificity is essential for aestheticians interested in matters of aesthetic ontology and value. However, as Noël Carroll has vehemently and convincingly argued, the theory of medium specificity is inherently flawed and its many applications in art history ill-motivated. Famously, he concluded that we should ‘forget the medium’ entirely. In this thesis, I reject his conclusion and argue that reconstructing a theory of medium specificity, while taking Carroll’s objections into account, is possible. To do so, I offer a reconceptualization of the main theoretical components of medium specificity and ground this new theory in empirical research. I first redefine the medium not as the physical material that makes up artworks but as sets of practices – not the material itself but how one uses the material. I then show that what makes media specific and unique is not certain physical features, but the human responses, which can be empirically investigated, to the combination of practices that constitute media. This relation is one of response-dependence, albeit of a novel kind, which I develop by appealing to social metaphysics. The resulting theory is more complex but also much more flexible and fine-grained than the original and provides insight into a variety of current aesthetic theories

She Lives: Bringing the Bride of Frankenstein to Life in the Comics

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein recently celebrated its two-hundredth anniversary, and its story remains vibrant in popular culture, especially in the comics medium. I’ve done a number of conference papers in the past devoted to representations of the Creature and his creator, Victor Frankenstein, in comics and comic art, but I’ve only recently begun to look at how the character of the Bride of Frankenstein has been depicted. I’d like to use this opportunity to further that work and look more closely at continuations and recastings of her story. The Bride has no chance at life in Shelley’s novel, as she is aborted by Victor. She briefly experiences life in the film Bride of Frankenstein, but that is also terminated. However, the comics have allowed her an extratextual existence beyond the limits of these earlier works. She thrives and flourishes in continuations of Frankenstein. Sometimes, she merely makes a cameo appearance, but in other works she is more vital to the narrative, acting either to save the world or damn it. Further, new versions of the character also populate various recastings. Often, her surrogates merely don her costume, yet a growing number are more active, again making an impact. All of these comics illustrate the vitally of the Bride and her power to inspire creators of the comics. I hope to be able to share these with you

Study of actions of Bioplastic Materials on marine microbial communities and effects on marine invertebrate organisms

Bioplastics are nowadays widely considered as an alternative to conventional plastics of petrochemical origin. Considering the high growth rates estimated for their production in the coming years, we want to evaluate whether the environmental problem linked to conventional plastics is not shifting to bioplastics. To do this, we focused on the factors involved in the biodegradation processes of the latter within marine ecosystems, analyzing the two most widespread bio-based and biodegradable biopolymers today: polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and polylactic acids (PLA). The study of these bioplastics was carried out through the analysis of the bacterial communities constituting a biofilm known as Plastisphere, developed on the surfaces of the biopolymeric materials exposed in marine environment for different times, The research and identification of bacterial degradation products was performed by mass spectrometry analysis (MS). Morover, the possible interactions that the presence of biopolymer micro- and nanoparticles can determine on marine organisms was evaluated on bioindicator model organism Mytilus galloprovincialis by in vitro and in vivo exposure tests. To study the Plastisphere of biopolymers, porous bioplastic scaffolds produced by Thermally Induced Phase reversal process, were exposed in marine environment for 60 and 120 days. The composition of plastispheres was detected by Next Generation Sequencing of V3 and V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rDNA gene. The composition of bacterial communities was related to biodegradable biopolymer and the bacterial diversity was affected by exposition times. In general, the bacterial biomass decreases as time increases and was higher in Poly(DL-lactic Acid)/Poly(L-lactic Acid) (PDLLA/PLLA) scaffold. A high abundance of Proteobacteria was detected in all biopolymers, with Alpha and Gamma Proteobacteria dominant. High abundance of sequences assigned to hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria (i.e. Oleibacter, Labrenzia Alcanivorax) and genera associated with biopolymers was observed (Maricaulis, Oceanicaulis). The genus Vibrio was first detected associated with PLA bioplastic. Tests carried out using minimal mineral media with biopolymer overlays allowed the identification of 5 potentially degrading bacterial strains, capable of growing in the presence of polyhydroxyalkanoate/polyhydroxybutyrate (PHA/PHB) as the sole carbon source, isolated from the plastisphere of scaffolds exposed in a marine habitat. The sequences were assigned to Alcanivorax sp. and Labrenzia sp. genera, suggesting a possible role in degradation of biopolymers. The products of bacterial biodegradation were studied by MS analysis and revealed the presence of products resulting from bacterial degradation of PLA, suggesting an active role of the marine plastisphere in PLA biodegradation. The presence of family and genera know to degrade PLA (belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteriodetes) detected by sequencing, confirms this hypothesis. The immunobiological investigations, applied here for the first time for the evaluation of the possible effects produced by bioplastics on marine organisms, have highlighted effects determined by exposure to PLA particles. In fact, the haemocytes showed reduced phagocytic activity, compared to an increase in enzymatic activities compared to the control both in the digestive gland sample and in the haemolymph sample. Furthermore, histological analysis of the digestive glands highlighted tissue damage and atrophy with enlargement of the glandular lumens and thinning of the epithelium lining them. The work described here has highlighted actual critical points for the promising environmental compatibility of bioplastics for natural aquatic systems, since they appear to be similar in terms of behavior to plastics of fossil origin and lays the methodological foundations for an in-depth study of the bioplastics problem

Experimental aesthetics and conceptual engineering

Experimental Philosophy (X-Phi) is now a fully-fledged methodological project with applications in almost all areas of analytic philosophy, including, as of recently, aesthetics. Another methodological project which has been attracting attention in the last few years is conceptual engineering (CE). Its areas of implementation are now diverse, but as was the case initially with experimental philosophy, aesthetics has unfortunately been left out (or perhaps aestheticians have failed to pay attention to CE) until now. In this paper, I argue that if conceptual engineers are interested in expanding their project to the field of aesthetics, which would greatly benefit the field, then they should rely on the existing experimental work of aestheticians. Experimental philosophers have only recently started to join forces with conceptual engineers in various fields, as well as to explore the methodological implications of such an alliance. This paper goes a step further by not only arguing that CE has potential in aesthetics, but that the way to realize this potential is to piggyback, so to speak, on the work of experimental aestheticians. In other words, instead of building a CE project in aesthetics from the ground up, this paper describes the support that CE can and should derive from current experimental aesthetics, thereby making the former’s development more efficiently realizable. Furthermore, I argue that doing so would also be beneficial to experimental aesthetics. Currently, the integration of X-Phi to the wider field of aesthetics is losing ground because certain objections—notably, the objection that X-Phi cannot be of relevance to normative questions—have not been properly refuted. By pairing up with a normative programme like CE, though, experimental aestheticians should finally be able to put these objections to rest.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Who’s His Daddy? Approaches to Merlin’s Father in Children’s and YA Media

In the 1130s, Geoffrey of Monmouth originated the character of Merlin, setting him upon the world stage as a wonder-working youth fathered (in the tradition of Greek and Latin authors of the past) by a daemon. However, later writers of the Middle Ages, beginning with Robert de Boron, reconceived Merlin within a more Christianized world, altering his heritage and transforming his sire into a demon from Hell. This shift from benign daemon to malevolent demon has impacted the representation of the wizard of Camelot for centuries. Contemporary fiction for the page as well as for the screen has adopted and adapted these two versions of Merlin’s origins in unique ways that remain largely unexplored by enthusiasts of the Matter of Britain. This presentation will build upon my previous research and highlight how both the Galfridian and Boronic traditions remain alive in depictions of Merlin in modern fantasy film and television produced for children and young adults. My focus will be in mapping out the strategies for the ways Merlin’s parentage has been received, packaged (alternately ignored, alluded to, altered, or accepted and embraced), and disseminated to audiences

ET Phone Camelot: Alien Life Forms in Arthurian Fiction

As a living tradition, the Matter of Britain displays a voracious appetite as it grows over the centuries, absorbing characters, legends, motifs, stories, and even genres to create new Arthurian narratives. Science fiction is one genre that has recently found a place within the Arthurian tradition. Inspired by Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, tales abound of time travelers journeying to Arthur’s realm, but a smaller, less well-known subset of Arthurianthemed science fiction brings various extraterrestrial creatures to Camelot. Sometimes, these beings are hostile, but, more often, they try to make the realm a better place. Most of these stories connect to and transform the figure of Merlin and those he interacts with, like the Lady of the Lake and Morgan le Fay, by recasting them as aliens. This presentation will highlight some of these developments as depicted on television and in fiction from the 1970s with Space: 1999 up through the early 2000s with the Stargate franchise

Pervivència i desaparició de la tàpia a Catalunya: el testimoni dels últims tapiadors del Pla d'Urgell

A Catalunya podem afirmar que l'ús generalitzat de la tàpia desapareisx a finals del segle XVIII, tot i que en alguns àmbits i ciutats encara s'utilitza durant el segle següent. Els llocs on l'ús de la tàpis s'estendrà més en el temps i arribarà fins ben entrat el segle XX seran algunes zones enquè els canvis socials, econòmics i tecnològics trigaran més a arribar. Ës el cas de la plana de Lleida i, concretament, de l'àmbit geogràfic del pla d'Urgel, on es pot dir que fou l'últim lloc de Catalunya en que s'utilitzà la tàpia de terra tradicional per a la construcció d'edifici